Simon Oliver | |
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Born | Simon Andrew Oliver 2 October 1971 |
Nationality | British |
Title | Van Mildert Professor of Divinity |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | |
Thesis | The God of Motion (2003) |
Doctoral advisor | Catherine Pickstock |
Influences | |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Theology |
Sub-discipline | |
School or tradition | Radical orthodoxy |
Institutions | |
Ecclesiastical career | |
Religion | Christianity (Anglican) |
Church | Church of England |
Ordained |
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Offices held |
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Simon Andrew Oliver (born 2 October 1971) is a British Anglican priest, theologian, and academic. He was formerly Associate Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of Nottingham,[4] he is now the Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham.[5] Oliver is also on staff with the Centre of Theology and Philosophy.[6]
Oliver was born on 2 October 1971. He studied philosophy, politics and economics at Mansfield College, Oxford, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1993; as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Oxon) degree in 1998.[7][8] In 1995, he matriculated into Westcott House, Cambridge, an Anglican theological college in the Liberal Catholic tradition, to train for Holy Orders.[8] During this time, he also studied theology at Peterhouse, Cambridge, graduating with a further BA degree in 1997;[7][8] as per tradition, his BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree in 2000.[8]
Having left theological college in 1998, Oliver continued his studies, undertaking postgraduate studies at Peterhouse.[8] His doctoral supervisor was Catherine Pickstock,[4][2] and his doctoral thesis was titled The God of Motion: Theological Physics from Plato to Newton with a Particular Emphasis on the Work of St. Thomas Aquinas.[9] He completed his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 2003.[8]
Oliver was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1998 and as a priest in 1999 for the Diocese of Ely.[5][8] From 1998 to 2001, he served his curacy as a non-stipendiary minister at All Saints, Teversham and St Andrew's Church, Cherry Hinton.[8] From 2001 to 2004, he was the chaplain of Hertford College, Oxford.[7][8] In 2005, he joined the University of Wales, Lampeter, as a lecturer in theology.[8] He was promoted to senior lecturer in 2006.[8]
In 2009, Oliver moved to the University of Nottingham, where he had been appointed associate professor of philosophical theology.[5][10] In November 2010, it was announced that he had been additionally appointed Canon Theologian of Southwell Minster; he was installed during a service at the minster on 13 February 2011.[11] He became head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Nottingham in 2013.[7]
In February 2015, it was announced that Oliver would be the next Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham.[5] He moved to Durham to take up the appointment in September 2015.[7] As such, he also became a residentiary canon of Durham Cathedral,[12][13] and was installed during Evensong on 20 September 2015.[14] He gave the 2017 Stanton Lectures at the University of Cambridge; the series was titled "Creation's Ends: Teleology, Ethics and the Natural".[15]
Oliver is a notable member of the theological sensibility known as radical orthodoxy.[16] He organised the 2013 Centre for Theology and Philosophy conference: The Soul, held at St Anne's College, Oxford.[17]
Oliver is married and has two sons.[13]
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